Oecumenius

Just as the Seraphim before the divine prophet Isaiah, having three times cried "Holy," (Isa. 6:3) enclosed the threefold hymn into one lordship, signifying the three as to their properties and persons, whereby the hymned are called beloved, but one as to the essence of the Godhead, so here likewise the heavenly angels, having three times in the front chanted the Alleluia, and having set the reverence upon each of the holy three hypostases, now sing the Alleluia in the Holy Trinity, showing that the holy and most-praised Trinity exists in a single essence and Godhead.

For he says, "The Lord our God reigns." Our Lord Jesus Christ, both before the saving incarnation the One who reigned in heaven and on earth together with the Father and the Holy Spirit, as the only-begotten Son and the Word of the Father and the Creator of all. And after the incarnation he is likewise Lord and King of all, in no way diminished by the flesh with respect to the source and kingdom of all.

But since, according to the most wise apostle (see 1 Cor 15:27-28), we do not yet see all things subjected to him, and in the age to come all things will be subjected and even those who now proudly lift up their necks against him will submit, just as even death itself will be subjected; "for death is abolished as the last enemy." (1 Cor. 15:26)

For the heavenly angels fittingly say, "The Lord our God has reigned," making the offering of praise unto the age to come, when, upon the most complete subjection of all things to Christ, whose kingdom is acquired over all, some will be delivered to punishment, others to personal knowledge, and not by a mirror or a riddle as now will they effect that subjection. (1 Cor. 13:12)

For, he says, the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his bride has prepared herself. The marriage present with the Lord is still an engagement to the church and not yet a completed marriage. And this the divine apostle associates, writing the second letter to the Corinthians, in which he says: "for I engaged you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ." (2 Cor. 11:2)

Therefore the matter is still an engagement; for "I engaged you": truly. And as the sign of the engagement, we receive "the pledge of the Spirit." (2 Cor. 1:22) When, however, the church becomes one spirit with Christ, just as a husband is one body with his wife, then it is the perfect marriage. For even while philosophizing about the physical marriage, the wise apostle, adducing the scriptural statement that "the two shall be one flesh," brings forward that "this mystery is great; but I say it of Christ and the church." (Eph. 5:31-32)

Therefore the holy angels say: "The marriage of the Lamb has come," signifying then the marriage that will be celebrated in the present engagement; for the Gospel clearly handed this down to us, where first it introduces marriages of a king's son celebrated by the father, and many called to the feast, some partaking of the banquet, others refusing the dinner, and one cast out who was not clothed in a wedding garment (Matt. 22:2-14); Then the same Gospel (Matt. 25:1-13) speaks of ten virgins, of whom five, whom it also calls wise, bringing their lamps to meet the bridegroom for that blessed wedding feast, while the excluded ones, when they had no oil left, extinguished their lamps; none of this is to be understood for the present time, but for the time to come.

The accursed and God-hating Greeks, hearing how it is a doctrine among us that holy angels by the good pleasure of God protect nations and churches and each one individually. Of the nations it is written by the most wise Daniel and "I came because of your words. And the prince of the kingdom of the Persians stood against me," (Dan.10:12-13) and again "now I return to make war with the prince of the Persians; and I was going out, and the prince of the Greeks was coming," (Dan.10:20) and again "there is none to resist me on this matter except Michael your prince;" (Dan.10:21) and again "at that time shall arise Michael the great prince who stands over the sons of your people." (Dan. 12:1) But concerning the churches of the present unveiling it says this in those who have reached it, to which a companion writer, Gregory among the saints, says concerning the holy angels: "for I believe that different angels protect different churches, as John teaches me through the Revelation"; and concerning each one, in the prophet's saying "an angel of the Lord will be set around those who fear him and he will deliver them." (Ps. 33:8) Moreover also the apostle writing about the holy angels: "Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation?" (Heb.1:14)

Since then the Greeks hear these things being taught by us, they say to us, "Why do you, who hold the same opinions as we do, reproach the teaching among us that regards the leaders of nations as gods? For those whom you call angels we call gods," as if only our names were in dispute and not also the matters themselves. Not that you indeed call the order of angels gods, so that there would be no difference even in names between us. To these men, accursed and worshipping with the works of your hands, and having set up as gods yesterday and the day before those whom you became acquainted with in all shameful things, who, having taken away most of the divine doctrines from us and bringing them into your destructive teachings, mingled them with your doctrines, but because you followed a guide who was a man and not God, you were not able to preserve the gentleness of all our teachings, and having followed him but a little, you shipwrecked perhaps about the first starting-point.

Therefore, nothing is common between us and you, just as neither is light common with darkness, nor Christ with Beliar (see 2 Cor. 6:14-15), as it is written.

For you, while setting up ethnic rulers as gods, or rather impure demons, introduce yourselves to them by assigning and wishing to offer reverence and worship as to gods; and indeed you treat some among you as divine and make no account of the One who appointed guardianship of men to God, but govern the nations by your own will as you yourselves may desire. Therefore you assigned to Ares the most savage and bloodthirsty peoples, the Scythians and the Germans, those who came to be governed by Ares as a scanty and murderous mortal would be; but to Athena you assigned the Greeks as wise, having received their intelligence from her; and you distributed other peoples to other gods, each of the gods arranging the nations according to his own dispositions. As for us, what shall we say concerning recognition from present things? For when one wished to worship the divine angel of the evangelist, and not to worship him as a god, for who more than John knew who is by nature and in truth God, and who the angels are, that they are ministers and servants and creatures of God?—nevertheless he appears to refuse even that worship as due to an angel, since worship in any case is present, and saying, See that you do not do that; I am your fellow servant and of your brethren who have the testimony of Jesus. The "See" is not merely a word preventing the act but is a claiming declaration. And he also calls himself a fellow servant of all who profess themselves servants of Christ and bear witness that God has been made flesh. What then is to be done, most divine angel, since you forbade yourself to be worshiped? Worship God; for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy, as if he said: Is that why you seek to worship me, because I have foretold to you the things that are to come? All those who testify to the lordship and divinity of Christ are filled with a prophetic gift, and I am not alone. Why then, he says, do you worship the same gift as is granted to my fellow servants? Likewise the Greeks are similarly glorified concerning their national founders, and Christians speak so concerning the holy angels.

After the hour of Babylon's destruction; and it is clear who Babylon is understood to be, and this is further shown to the evangelist, the fall of the Antichrist and of the arch-evil Dragon, and into what relentless punishment at the time of the end and of retribution, and the destruction of the kings who will arise against the servants of Christ at that time, and see what he says.

I saw the heaven opened, and behold a white horse, and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness. The Lord alone I behold fighting alongside and leading in battle the saints and warring against the adversaries.

Therefore the vision also bestows upon him a military form, handing him a horse and a sword and the leadership of armies. And behold, it says a white horse on which the Lord rode, signifying by the riddle that Christ rests not with others but with the pure and with those unspotted by the filth of sin. Therefore concerning the vessel of Paul's calling it is said by the Lord, "to bear my name before the nations and the kings of the sons of Israel." (Acts 9:15) Observe then that Christ rests and rides upon those who are according to Paul.

And he who sits upon him, that is, upon the horse, is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and wages war. Faithful is the true one according to the apostle who speaks concerning him; "he remains faithful; he cannot deny himself." (2 Tim. 2:13)

Therefore Faithful and True; for of the same one it has been said, two names applied to one matter. And because he judges righteously and wars against the sensible enemies on behalf of his servants, the prophet who speaks is witness, "Give to the king your judgment, and to the son of the king your righteousness," (Ps. 72:1) that is, to Christ; for the Christ according to the flesh is the son of Solomon, to whom the Psalm is then assigned, going on "to judge your people in righteousness and your poor with judgment." (Ps. 72:2)

That the same one also wages war, he shows that he arms him militarily by saying: "tighten your sword upon your thigh, mighty one, for your beauty and your splendor, and be strong, and show kindness and reign"; then adding "your sharpened arrows, mighty one: peoples will fall under you." (Ps. 45:3-5)

And his eyes, he says, are a flame of fire. The wrath against the enemies, he shows by the burning of the eyes.

And on his head he says many crowns, as many certainly as there are orders reigning in heaven and on earth.

He says he had a name written, that no man knew but himself. God says in the Exodus of the seventh day to the prophetic Moses: "I am the Lord who appeared to Abraham and Isaac and Jacob being their God; and I did not declare to them my name, the Lord," (Ex. 6:2-3) as clearer than or capable of being conveyed by human hearing. Therefore, and as the Lord instructed the apostles to baptize those returning to the knowledge of God, he said, "baptizing them into the name," and by saying "name" he did not hand over the proper names; for he did not have the strength to sustain their proclamation, but instead he delivered it in relational and nominative terms in place of the proper names, relational when saying "into the name of the Father and of the Son," and nominative when also invoking "and of the Holy Spirit." (Matt. 28:19) Therefore, very securely and in the Revelation the divine name of the Only-Begotten is allowed to be unknown to all.

And out of his mouth, namely of the commander-in-chief, a sword proceeds. Therefore the divine prophet gives the sword to the Lord's thigh for use placed a little before (Ps. 44:4); but the vision, writing more precisely, presents it at the mouth. By which it is signified that by the word of God all things subsist, and whoever transgresses it in any way will not go unpunished, so that by him he may strike the nations. What kind of nations? Those who join with the Antichrist against the servants of Christ and are placed under him.

And he says that he shall rule them with a rod of iron; for the Lord, being supremely good and merciful, would shepherd these nations about whom the word speaks with a shepherd's and consoling rod, "leading them to a place of pasture and nourishing them at waters of rest." (Ps. 22:2) But since they have not willed this, they shall be shepherded with an iron rod, that is, with strict and deadly discipline. For whom the word does not reform, those it certainly submits to punishment. And because the iron rod denotes strict and punitive action, the prophet, intending to signify the rule of the Romans about which Daniel says, "Arise, devour much flesh," (Dan. 7:5) said to God, "You shepherd them with an iron rod: as with earthen vessels you will crush them." (Ps. 2:5) But when the season was favorable God shepherded by means of that; in the last time by means of this.

And he treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. The Lord in the Gospels said concerning the heavenly Father, "The Father judges no one; and he gave all judgment to the Son." (Jn. 5:22) It is therefore most fittingly said in the Revelation that he himself treads the winepress of the fury of the anger of God; for by judgment and recompense of the wicked he fulfills the paternal will and becomes the fulfiller of the righteous anger of the Father.

I believe this holy angel about whom the speech now is to be some sort of military herald of the divine host. And that he commands all the holy angels in heaven, whom he conventionally calls birds because of their elevation and ability to fly through the air, to share in the slaughter against the enemies; not that a single angel were unable to destroy the whole host of enemies, for that was clearly shown by him who in one night struck down one hundred and eighty-five thousand of the Assyrians (see 2 Kings 19:35), but so that all might become participants in the joy over the enemies. For I think he even says with the prophet, "Did I not hate those who hate you, O Lord, and was I not hostile to your enemies? I utterly hated them; they became enemies to me." (Ps. 139:21)

And when he commissioned the angels flying in midheaven, he himself also stood in midheaven and proclaimed; for the sun is set in the midst of the seven planets, having three above it and three below it. Either therefore this, or that the proclamation was made in the light as in a spirit, and he was speaking of the doom of those murders about to be, for the spirit is an intelligible light toward God, as the prophet teaches; and making his words a father and saying, "In your light we shall behold light," (Ps. 138:21-22) that is, we will see the Spirit in the Son.